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Wednesday, 31 May 2017

Trees, Seasons and Memories: Sepia Saturday

This week's Sepia Saturday prompt features a tree in full leaf with rustic fencing round about. Memories of family and home in the Scottish Borders, with trees as the backcloth is my theme.

I wonder how old these trees are at the ruined Roman fort of Houseteads on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland? Here I am treading in the footsteps of the Romans who manned this northern windswept outpost, of their empire. Spanning 80 miles across northern England, building began c.AD122 and took six years to complete. For almost three centuries Hadrian's Wall was an important defensive frontier between England and Scotland, with Housteads one of 15 forts built along the wall. The Wall is now a World Heritage Site.

Moving onto the early 20th century - two vintage photograph of my village of Earlston show the old village pump well which was demolished in 1920 to make room for the War Memorial.

A leap of 50 years to more recent family photographs: across the seasons.

SPRING

1974 - with my daughter, beside the River Teviot in Hawick with the trees of Wilton Lodge Park in the background.

Easter 1975 - daughter a year older, with my parents on a sunny day in our local park.

I am still sporting a miniskired dress.

On an April walk around Earlston where we now live - looking east across to the Lammermuir Hills

SUMMER

1981 - a special photograph as it is the only one I have of my mother taken with her three grandchildren - at a family wedding.

The War Memorial in Earlston Square - a reminder of our ancestors lost in conflict.

My brother at Ironbridge over the wooded Severn Valley in Shropshire

Our father spent his childhood in the area.

The cast iron bridge, the first of its kind was built in 1779 and the gorge became known as the "Cradle of the Industrial Revolution". Now a World Heritage Site.

No family connections here, but another lovely scene in the Scottish Borders at Yetholm which marks the end of the first long distance path in Britain. - the Penine Way. Here looking towards the Cheviot Hills across the English/Scottish border.

AUTUMN

2010 - little granddaughter enjoying a walk through the woods at Earlston.

Two autumn scenes in Cowdenknowes Wood, Earlston

On a woodland walk, with the carpet of leaves and the Leader Water a streak of blue below.

8 comments:

All perfectly lovely photos and in tune with the prompt - especially when the trees are coupled with rustic fences. Nice job. My favorite is the first photo. There's just something about it that really catches the eye. Love the snowy winter scene with hubby in red. Leafless tree limbs outlined in snow have a particular beauty.

A positive arboretum Sue! Housesteads has always fascinated me; I used to have a book full of wonderful drawings of how Roman life would have been there, by Roland Embleton I think. I am also reminded of 'Roman Wall Blues’ by W.H.Auden.

Thank you all for taking the time to comment. I enjoy taking photographs of trees, whatever the season - there is a beauty even in winter with the shapes of the bare branches, so I had quite a lot of images to choose from.

About Me

I have been interested in family history for years. It all began when I was allowed as a child to look through the old family photographs and memorabilia kept in a shoebox in the cupboard at my grandfather's house. That treat started me on a fascinating ancestral trail.